1st year FLDP - thinking about quitting the program. Help please.

If you don't like the program or location then there really isn't too much keeping you there. I would definitely make sure you do finish the first full year and also get an idea of your next rotational role (especially location since that seems important to you) that may sway your immediate decision.

Being 1 year out of school this doesn't have to be the end all of jobs for you. Since graduating engineering school I've been an engineer, consultant, back to bschool, business development in a start-up, private equity associate, project manager, etc. Believe me you will have plenty of opportunities to change your role over the course of your career.

All that being said, get your resume together and start applying to other jobs, but don't quit. Can't hurt and if you find something else you find as a better fit then your out. If not you still have a job at least and not everyone with little experience can say that. Good luck.

Also, spend your time on something productive that will benefit you later in your career. Study for the GMAT or CFA. If you ace the GMAT start putting together applications (many people go to bschool with just 2 years exp). Learn another language, might help you get an international assignment down the line.

Here's what I read: you got into a pretty decent rotational program from a sub par school. You "learnt" too late you really wanted to do IB and have since become uninterested with your current job. To me you sound like a spoiled millennial who doesn't want to do the work. How are you going to deal with 100+ hours a week? More importantly, how will you be able to convince IB recruiters you can handle it?

I'm not flaming you but just wanted to give you some perspective. My advice would be to double down on your efforts, knock it out of the park, make the best of your time in rural America and like others have said: actually learn something. Furthermore, when opportunities aren't there you need to create them so talk to your program manager and network your way to different roles. In the meantime study for the GMAT, workout, hang with coworkers - be productive. Your attitude is what is limiting you, not your race.

Please remind me not to recommend you for any position at my company. Even in the best job, there are going to be things that are complete dumb and you will hate. You giving zero effort tells me in the long haul you don't have what it takes. If you get fired, good luck trying to explain to any recruiter that you were "under-qualified".

Not sure why everyone is hating on you. If you don't like it, then you don't like it. I would wait until the second rotation to see if it gets any better. 5 months isn't that long, so if that doesn't workout, I'd look to lateral to a different company. I know what you mean by living in a small town and it is not for everybody. If you want to change job functions, especially to IB, start getting your profile optimized for b-school.

FYI, in my company, some finance departments are extremely chill (mine comes to mind) while others are really strategy driven (so go getters would like it more, but it also means it is more cut throat).

1) It's your fault for not doing the proper amount of due diligence. Almost all FLDPs are primarily accounting work, though if you're a high performer and the opportunities are there, you could potentially sneak your way into all finance-related functions.

2) I'm assuming it is 3, 1 year rotations. If so I'd see what your next opportunity is before dropping out. If you want more specific advice, PM me the exact program name. I may have more info on it for you.

3) You said 3/5 people that quit are minorities getting treated like shit, just like you. Why weren't you guys hanging out together? Who gives a shit if the rest of the town hates you, as long as you have someone to commiserate with. I'm sure you can find some sort of social circle if you make an effort. It might not be the ideal situation, but there's ways to make it work. Note that this is also a great way to form a strong bond with someone you may be working with for year, if not decades.

4) Making a horizontal career move will be difficult with less than one year of experience. Making a move after you have one year of experience into a finance function will be difficult because you have accounting experience. You can wait to do a top MBA in 3-5 years, or consider...

5) Look into top MSF programs. It sounds like you're interested in finance jobs. Well for most finance jobs it helps to have some pedigree. There are some programs out there that accept people with experience and others that accept people with less than 1 year of experience. Get on applying like right now. @"TNA" might be able to offer some programs to check out. Some that I can think (though not sure if you meet the criteria) include: UVA, MIT, Princeton, Tulane, Claremont McKenna, Columbia, Duke. Here's a more full list here: http://msfhq.com/masters-in-finance-programs/

Just whatever you do, make sure you do some damn good due diligence from here on out. You fucked up by accepting a job without understanding what it fully entailed, now you better be sure what you do next is what you really want to do. Example: If you want to get into energy banking, you might check out Tulane and UT-Austin's MSF programs. If you do, make sure they actually get recruited by banks for their energy divisions.

Good luck.

Sometimes jobs suck, sounds like yours is one that does. I'd reach out to alumni and start thinking about my next move. If you are learning in this role and it sounds like you may be, be like a sponge try and soak up everything. Accounting is not sexy, but it's important. You may find your next rotation is better, so try and stick it out and work hard. Being well regarded can mean better options in the long run. Try and get a more finance focused rotation, I'd be shocked if FP&A wasn't an option,

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I have friends in all sorts of careers, even the ones that are considered "prestigious" (everything from elite IB, MBB consulting, blue-chip tech engineering, etc.) and of course what I consider to be "solid" jobs (i.e. corp fin at a F500, big 4 audit, etc.). From these discussions, what I've learned is that EVERY job sucks at the entry-level. It's just the nature of the beast and something we're not accustomed to since we just got of school learning all this high-level course-work, being graded on cases where we are managers making life-or-death decisions for a company, etc. We think we know it all because hell, we read/learned about this already, right? Wrong.

Some of the things you're experiencing are just part of anyone's life as a new professional. I can't comment on your situation of racism, but most RCGs have trouble meeting new people outside of a few co-workers and finding excitement in the mundane stuff higher-ups pass down to us.

Therefore, I would say the following. The first is realize that you are in an position that many people who come from a non-target with average stats would want. Quitting now isn't going to look good to employers or the IB jobs you covet. IB isn't some picnic and you'll be forced to deal with overbearing bosses and working 90 hour weeks, often formatting powerpoints or doing glorified data-entry (as my friends have said they do). If they see you leave after not even finishing 1 rotation, they're going to question if you'll be able to handle the banking grind.

Second, realize that it's going to take at least 3-5 years of building trust at any job, no matter how prestigious, before you start getting the more interesting work. Try to focus more on the positives of your work and realize that the grass isn't always greener. I bet that right now, you're probably working way less hours, getting paid a reasonable salary that stretches really far in that small town (you have no idea how many of my banker friends whine about how expensive NYC is even with their salaries), etc. Enjoy these aspects instead of focusing on the annoying parts of your work.

Finally, understand that not showing any motivation will absolutely not get you where you want to be and only burn bridges. I don't know if your program has a mentor or something along those lines, but you can be honest and say that you weren't a fan of this rotation and want something more finance-heavy. If they talk to your manager, and he or she complains about the quality of your work, they're absolutely not going to care about getting you in a spot that 's more aligned with your interests.

Pretty much all FLDP are accounting focused. Thats the point.

Goddamn you are whinny. I think the problem will work itself out, because you can't perform satisfactory according to your manager.

Let's say you nut up and quit, I would bet you have nothing worthwhile on your resume (this probably the best), you have an average GPA from a non-target probably a no name school outside the top 50. That isn't going to field many offers.

While I probably need further information to properly assess your unique situation, it generally reads like you did not necessarily do your due diligence on the position, and ultimately were blindsided after starting. It happens on occasion, but one thing I would caution is that most entry level roles (as mentioned by others above) involve a degree of unglamorous grunt work. This is almost universally the case, whether you are putting together pitch books/financial models, LOI’s,, setting up working group lists (;P), doing an audit on a client, or producing endless turns of transaction legal agreements. Someone has to produce the work, and it generally is the most junior professionals at the firm/company. Re: race, I’m not sure how poorly you were treated, but could it be that you are just not open to the role and gave off an otherwise negative vibe that other drew away from? Sometimes one’s displeasure with their work environment shows up in their interactions with others or their work product.

On next steps I really think you ought to stay at the company for the duration of the first year. It’s very difficult to make anything other than a lateral move (if that) leaving less than a year. You may even find a position or role that suits to your liking. What I’ve seen from the more reputable FLDP type programs (e.g., J&J, Raytheon, GE) is that they are accounting/FP&A heavy, with some treasury sprinkled in. You have to be mindful that these programs are feeder programs into the corporate finance function rather than into something like IB (though some programs do offer Corp Dev/Strat as a rotation). In principle it’s still a fairly lucrative career path that will allow you to make low 6 figures with potential for more if you are good.

Your exits could be quite good depending on how you apply yourself and what mindset you take on. Staying on for 3 years at a reputable FLDP program could definitely allow you to enter into a top 20 MBA program, and subsequently a banking position at the industry you were in pre-MBA if that’s what you are looking for. Substantial networking may also allow you to lateral to a boutique IB firm, which you can leverage into a MM firm later on en route to a corp dev opportunity like Sil did. Feeling sorry for yourself and not taking accountability will not get you anywhere, and certainly will not allow you to succeed in banking even if you were able to make the switch in my view.

I'm confused here- It looks like this was posted today, but the first comments are two years old..

I understand your pain. But do not quit before you have lined up something.

Surprised at all the hate and negative comments. OP, I was in your exact position 6 years ago, with the exception that the city I worked in was a "second tier" Midwest City (smaller than Chicago, but not bumblefuck middle of nowhere). Sometimes a position just isn't a good fit. In many cases, these FLDP programs will sell themselves as involving complex financial analysis (interesting work), but the reality is that it's mostly boring accounting grunt work. In my situation, all of the employees I spoke with sold the position as involving mentally stimulating work, but in actuality it was mind-numbing accounting work. In that situation it's very difficult for a new hire straight out of college to decipher what is truth and what isn't, because you simply don't have any experience in the "real world".

Having said that, it's important that you find some way to motivate yourself enough to at least perform adequately, otherwise you're going to get canned. Get your performance up to at least an average level and network as hard as you can on the side to learn more about potential exit opps. Quitting without any plan is not a good option.

OP is correct that most FLDP jobs at F500 and even the mega tech firms are more "financial controllership" than true finance leadership and strategy.

Your race baiting really pisses me off. It's one thing to say that you want to live in a more diverse city due to better social opportunities. It's another to attribute racial malice to your colleagues and supervisors without compelling evidence. So some people gave you mean looks? Have you considered that maybe they're in a bad mood or were just thinking about something unpleasant when you happened to exchange glances with them? And 3 out of 5 people who quit were minorities. So what? Were they actively discriminated? Did they personally tell you that their reasons for quitting were because of race? As a poster above said, there are VERY few areas in today's America where legally sanctioned discrimination exists. And most of the "racism" that people talk about can be explained by other factors, not race.